


Scattered Thoughts, Split Mind

by hazelwho



Category: due South
Genre: Alternate Universe, Community: ds_snippets, Community: dsc6dsnippets, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-28
Updated: 2012-04-27
Packaged: 2017-11-04 10:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/393052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelwho/pseuds/hazelwho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A what-if where I suck the magical realism out of Fraser's world. For the prompt "scattered" on dsc6dsnippets. No archive warnings apply, but it is sad. I broke Fraser and I didn't fix him.</p>
<p>300 words. Fic of unusual format - it's a JPEG of a progress note from the (totally fictional) Cook County Psychiatric Hospital.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. JPEG of progress note




	2. Text-only version

Mr. Fraser is a 34-year-old homeless man with unknown psychiatric history who was transferred to our facility four weeks ago from the emergency room after an episode of hypothermia. He was on a 72-hour involuntary hold at that hospital after attempting to refuse treatment on the basis that his “extra layer of subcutaneous fat” would protect him. 

The patient suffers from both visual and auditory hallucinations, often engaging in conversations with his wolf, who talks back to him, and his father, who provides a negative running commentary on his actions. The patient has persecutory delusions, believing his apartment was “burned down by a performance artist” who was after him, and also Capgras delusions consisting of a concern that various staff members have been replaced by imposters.

The patient was started on quetiapine upon arrival. When no improvement in symptoms was noted after two weeks, the dosage was increased. Five days after increasing the dose of his antipsychotic, the patient became catatonic, assuming a rigid standing posture with his hands behind his back. No waxy flexibility was demonstrated; the patient resisted efforts to re-pose him. We treated the catatonia with benzodiazepines and reduced his dose of quetiapine. Afterward, the patient was able to recall the incident, though he lacked insight into his situation, insisting that he had been “standing guard” and was able to move now because his shift was over.

Current diagnosis is schizophreniform disorder (295.40), as we cannot prove the disorder has been present more than six months. Since the patient is homeless, we suspect long-standing disorganized behavior. We have requested medical records from Canadian officials (if he is really Canadian). Other than duration of symptoms, the patient meets criteria for schizophrenia. We expect schizophrenia, paranoid subtype (295.3) will be the final diagnosis, given the prominent delusions and hallucinations.


End file.
